The Mighty Boosh are ready to take Japan by storm, as dvd releases of their tv series have been scheduled for release this Spring.

The dvds, which appear to be subtitled, not dubbed, will hit stores on 21st April. The cover art for “Vol. 1″ and “Vol. 2″ suggests its a two-part release for series one, and translations confirm this suspicion – with four episodes per release. There’s no news on extras on the sets, but as these are not straight ports of the two disc releases in Europe, Australia and North America, its possible that the extras are absent, as with the release of Red Dwarf in Japan a few years ago.

The second series is due to follow in May – we’ll have more information on that nearer the time, as it remains to be seen if it will be split into two, or followed by the third season. As soon as we have any more details about these sets, we’ll let you know.

While this may seem like merely “one for the collectors” in the West, and to satiate the cult following that is growing in the Far East, the boys have recently expressed an interest in taking their show to Japan, so perhaps this is the start of something much, much bigger… watch this space!

Editors note: many thanks to “brainshortcake” for alerting us to this forthcoming release. We’ll be relying on her wisdom, cleverness and ability to understand Japanese *and* the Japanese Boosh phenomenon to provide us further details as soon as possible.

As we’ve reported on numerous occasions, Noel Fielding has been playing a number of secret gigs recently, as a warm-up for his appearance at the Teenage Cancer Trust event on March 23rd. Our newest contributor MrsSladeWild managed to catch his appearance at Amused Moose on Saturday 27th February. This is her review…

Another Amused Moose another Fielding warm-up. Well, my first and I was walking in already knowing most of his material by heart. I went in with a completely open mind however and had absolutely no expectations of being either utterly amazed or completely disappointed.

The other comics were fantastic of course, Mark Dolan, brilliant MC, simply announced 4 great acts to come. We sat through Paul Sinha, so hilarious. Then Sarah Millican, she made my stomach hurt. Then Mr Fielding was announced onto the stage. It was very, very refreshing to see him as a non-headliner for some reason, and it was obviously refreshing for him to not be in front of an audience with any sort of rose-tinted vision of him.

He performed a 20 minute set and the audience lapped it all up, he was very well received. The first half consisted of his usual, “psychic comedy”, then his Christ/Leper banter and ‘I’ve got a face, you’ve got a face’ (Which was to me I must add, I’m still a fan at large of course so this did make me quite happy).

During the first half, as it was all old it can be boring to sit through what you’ve heard so many times but it was very obvious that he was rushing through all that, going through the jokes that he knew would be a guaranteed success whilst he pieced together his new material in his head. The mind-cogs were obviously working overtime. He said himself that some of his new stuff he wrote on the day – Whilst being overlooked and judged by a cat of course – He talked about adopting flamingo’s from London Zoo and about a neighbour of his ‘Monkey Edwards’.

Sound familiar? Well, for tweeters it would. He takes you through some great fantastical anecdotes about them though and you see some fresh Noel Fielding stand-up but still the kind that we know and love. He also talked about his parents when he was a child, who were also his entourage for the night, and also sharing a bath with his ‘partner’. I won’t give anymore away.

There were the odd parts which weren’t very well received, in my opinion this would be the odd little songs he would do, which even for him didn’t really make any sense. He could tell straight off though when something he had done was not-so successful and would say. Kudos to him for doing that and this is what warm-ups are for.

Anyone who will get to see him while he’s still doing these small secret gigs before the big TCT should be chuffed at how he’s doing. Of course, be prepared for a lot of the oldies but as this is the first time I have gone to his stand-up and heard a large percentage of new jokes, I take this as nothing but a sign of good things to come and of a Noel that is working his slipped-down socks off, in between flicking his cat with them.

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Post NME Awards, there’s a couple of Boosh interview clips knocking about on the NME website and their Youtube channel.

First up, Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt were grabbed on the red carpet to discuss their award predictions and Noel’s love of Captain Beefhart.

Mid show, Julian Barratt, Rich Fulcher, Mike Fielding and Dave Brown were interviewed, after The Mighty Boosh won the award for Best DVD. As Noel was mucking about presenting awards and dancing with Kasabian, Julian quickly made a surrogate from a small green balloon.

Finally, there’s a cringeworthy interviewer from Absolute Radio trying to out-do the Boosh madness on the red carpet post show, but he managed to get some choice outbursts from the boys (again, sans Noel), until a sudden discussion about nudity stopped the whole thing in its tracks. Worth it for the cringe factor, Rich being… well, Rich… and Dave’s factual outburst at the end.

There’s no actual news or insight in these videos, but we felt we’d share them with you as a prime example of the Boosh boys riffing off one another, and talking delightful nonsense as ever.

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The short, entitled Roots, also features friend-of-the-Boosh Antony Elvin, who some of you may have seen in series three, or live at Booshfest a few years ago. He’s also a regular on the London music circuit both in his own, unique right, and as a member of the space-prog folk band Circulus.

The film takes a swipe at the ridiculous lives of a folk-drenched couple, their worship of vegetables, sexual problems and fornication with ancient castle ruins. It’s as bonkers as ever, and will no doubt appeal to fans of Christopher Guest (This Is Spinal Tap, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind). It’s much slower and gentler comedy than you may be used to, but stick with it, and you’ll reap its rewards.

Due to technical difficulties, the film has yet to appear on the JackalFilms website, or its YouTube channel, but both links will be available as soon as possible. Check back with this post to see them when they become available.

In the meantime you can watch the film via independent film-making website Shooting People.

I’ve watched it and it’s a good one. I found out a few things I didn’t know about Rich and the Boosh. I’m sure there was a lot of good stuff lost in the edit too. Bob and Rich should work together, they seem to get on like a house on fire.

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Tickets for the next series of Never Mind The Buzzcocksare now up for reserve on tv audience site, Applause Store.

The panel-based music quiz returns for its mammoth 24th series, and the second since Phill Jupitus was joined by Noel Fielding, who took over from previous captain Bill Bailey.

After the departure of the show’s second host, Simon Amstell, the last series featured a string of guest presenters. It’s currently unknown whether the show will continue down the same path, but given the success of the last run, and the continued method employed by fellow panel-quiz Have I Got News For You, it’s looking likely to be a continued feature for the forseeable future.

The series will be filmed at BBC Television Centre, London, and is strictly an 18+ audience.

As with most tv show tickets, these are not available to purchase, but are randomly allocated to those who register, based upon a choice of possible dates.

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The IT Crowd production offices are offering the chance to appear as an extra in the forthcoming series of the award-winning comedy. The team announced via their Twitter page yesterday that they were looking for people to ‘geek-up’ and send them a photo, with the best looking geeks chosen to appear in the fourth season.

The sitcom, starring Chris O’Dowd, Katherine Parkinson, Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry, is due to begin filming soon. As we reported last week, actor Benedict Wong was being lined up to guest star, and the scripts are fast nearing completion. Previous series were filmed at Pinewood Studios, and tickets were made available to be part of the live audience. As soon as we hear anything about applying for this year, we’ll let you know.

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Noel Fielding was interviewed by NME Radio last night at the NME Awards in Brixton (see below), and casually dropped a mention that the boys had two films and some music EP’s planned.

The interview may well appear in the coverage of the awards on Channel 4 this weekend, most likely in the Saturday morning show at 11:10am. If we hear anything further about this exciting development, we’ll fire it straight at you from our news cannon.

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The Mighty Boosh have triumphed once again at the NME Awards, winning Best Live DVD for their Future Sailors Tour.

The whole crazy gang were in town, showing a united front for the first time in months, for the star-studded event at Brixton Academy last night. Despite stiff competition from the likes of Kings Of Leon, Nirvana, The Killers and cult comedy Flight Of The Conchords, the Boosh took home a trophy for the fourth year in a row.

Noel Fielding also performed, as we suspected, with indie rockers Kasabian – though whilst the latter won a couple of awards themselves, Fielding’s nominations in various other catagories (including best tv show for Never Mind The Buzzcocks) were not so lucky.

You can watch the show on Channel 4 tomorrow night at 11:25pm, and there’s an extra 30 minute show featuring material cut from the initial broadcast plus red-carpet interviews on Saturday morning at 11:10am.

Check out the NME website for further pics and videos from the event, and much, much more – and don’t forget to check out the magazine next Tuesday with its in-depth awards review.

Hearty congratulations to the Boosh from all here at The Velvet Onion.

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Noel has joined the likes of Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) and a host of others to request donations and support for freerunner Johnny “Sticky” Budden in his effort to run a 1,000 mile marathon in aid of resarch for a cure to Motor Neurone diseases.

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Noel Fielding has been playing secret gigs recently. Our contributor Mog managed to catch him in the act this weekend. This is her review of Noel Fielding’s secret gig, 21st February 2010.

That likeable stage presence in action!

Finally. The detective work had paid off, so I packed away the deerstalker and headed off to WC1 for the latest secret Fielding gig.

A half-empty tiny room in the basement of an Australian theme pub isn’t the most auspicious venue for a comedian that’s more used to selling out several dates at the O2 (a fact that wasn’t lost on him), but the audience were warm and friendly, the beer was cold and cheap, and it provided the ideal setting for Noel to try out some new material and build on his core set. No squeeing. No old skool jury sitting in judgement. Perfect.

It was classic Fielding in action: fantastical, weird and silly meandering stories that took in flamingos, Poirot, jellyfish, Marilyn Manson making him packed lunches and more, delightfully underpinned with his unique on stage charm. For me, it’s this which sets him apart from other comedians. Other stand-ups may be better at remembering their jokes, they may be more prolific writers of new material, they may have gags that have actual endings, but none of them can touch Noel’s likeability on stage. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what it is (his humility? his childlike energy and joy? his obvious affection for and appreciation of the audience? the panda jumper?), but whatever it is works wonders, wonderfully. By the end I felt like I’d had a warm cuddle, a tickle and a twirl around the room from ten of the best dreams I’ve ever had. If that makes sense.

I’ve seen Noel’s stand up a few times but last night was the first time I’ve seen him on my own, and it’s interesting what you notice when you’re not assimilating other people’s opinions. What I noticed at last night’s gig is how his stories grow and ripen with each telling. His jokes evolve from one gig to the next, primarily due to new ideas that pop into his head as he’s telling them. In fact you can spot when he discovers a new angle on an existing gag from the look of joy on his face, and it happens quite regularly. Each time he recounts a joke he creates new diversions, new connections, more layers. It gets better and better. Like a painting, constantly changing and thickening with new paint strokes, and slowly becoming a different painting over time. It’s this that makes for repeated viewings. By contrast his newer material, while fresher, currently feels less rich. But with a few more tellings, I suspect the gloriously whimsical cul-de-sacs and overlays upon overlays will be there.

In summary then, not a bad night out for a fiver: 8 comedians including Noel and the rather marvellous ‘Fielding in waiting’, Joey Page. Today I have a smile on my face.

Catch him if you can.

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Cult US comedian Sarah Silverman appeared in her tv show this week wearing a Mighty Boosh t-shirt. The episode, “Nightmayor” was the fourth of a ten episode run, which will also feature Rich Fulcher and Matt Berry later this season, and as you can see from the handy screenshot, she was touting the classic green electro shirt sold on the first post-telly live tour back in 2006.

Co-star, and occasional Matt Berry collaborator Steve Agee had this to say online:

“We shot this episode right after Comic-Con and they were out here and gave her a shirt. We desperately tried to get the Boosh guys to come to the set and do a cameo in the coffee shop but their schedule was way too full.”

The Sarah Silverman Program runs on Logo and Comedy Central in the US, and on both Channel 4 and Comedy Central UK in, of course, the UK. Whilst this is a very minor story, its great to think that millions of US homes have been subliminally Booshed this week – and with Fulcher & Berry set to appear soon, they won’t know what’s hit ’em!

Many thanks to “Chessiequ” for this news story.

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Rich Fulcher‘s appearance on Carpool, the web based series in which former Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn drives a guest star to a destination and interviews them along the way, is set to be released online next week.

Llewellyn was asked on his Twitter page earlier this evening for a date, and gave the answer of Friday 26th February. Episodes of Carpool appear on iTunes and Robert’s own Llewtube website.

All previous episodes are still available for viewing, including guest appearances by David Mitchell, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Dave Gorman, Adrian Edmondson, Sir Patrick Stewart, The IT Crowd writer Graham Linehan and members of the Red Dwarf cast and crew.

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Comic legend Adam Buxton has taken a swipe at the failure of his recent sitcom, The Persuasionists, which co-stared Simon Farnaby and Iain Lee.

As we reported recently, the show was faced with appalling reviews and terrible ratings, and was eventually dumped in a graveyard slot halfway through its run. The video, posted by Adam on his YouTube channel and made for the BBC shows he’s still got his sense of humour.

See it below, and check out Adam Buxton’s YouTube channel for more great slices of comedy – including clips from his unfairly ignored BBC3 pilot, meeBox.